Recently, the need for collaborative computing environments has been receiving increasing attention. People are finding that it is more and more important to share information and work together to meet common goals. With increasing specialization in the marketplace, there is frequent need to work together with people from different offices, different organizations and even different countries to satisfy the requirements of a particular project or goal. Managing collaborative initiatives of this type is not a simple matter.
Electronic network based, project management server systems are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,506 [Srinivasan] discloses an automated, electronic network based, project management server system for managing multiple work groups. The system comprises a core piece of software which runs on a host server computer system and interacts with a messaging system such as E-mail or facsimile. The system compiles multi-project plans into a multi-project database and tracks the ownership of projects, tasks and resources within the plans. The system automatically checks all resource requests and if resource availability limits are exceeded then resources are allocated on projects based on priorities and project plans are changed accordingly. The system is also programmed to send out reminders and follow-ups and the databases are continuously updated based on status changes reported by work group members.
One of the disadvantages of known electronic network-based, collaborative server systems is that they depend on Information Technology specialists or a system administrator to administer control of the system, i.e., if a user wishes to add functionality to a system, they must have access to the program itself. Further, many collaborative systems require each user to have specialized software installed on their computer.
It is an object of the present invention to obviate and mitigate at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art.